Dig This... With Stu Helm

#VegWeek Continued: Kathmandu Kitchen

I could have just as easily titled this one "#VegWeek: Discontinued," because, for the second time in two weeks, I utterly failed at maintaining a vegetarian diet for an entire week. I made it longer on my second try than I did on my first — four days as opposed to less than 36 hours — partly with the help of good ol’ Kathmandu Kitchen!

Located right downtown, adjacent to Pritchard Park on Patton Avenue, Kathmandu is serving the traditional food of the mountains… that is, the Himalayan Mountains. Offering a variety of Indo-Chinese dishes from Nepal, it is definitely one of the most unique restaurants in Downtown Asheville. I had never eaten Himalayan food until I moved to Appalachia — thanks, Kathmandu! They also happen to have a lot of vegetarian options. So, I got online and did one of my favorite things on Earth: ordered takeout for delivery.

I ordered vegetable mo:mo (dumplings with tomato sauce), malai koftah (vegetarian meatballs), basmati rice, Nepali naan (flatbread with raisins and cashews) and kheer (rice pudding) for dessert, which all showed up at my door, hot, fresh and ready to eat — and in a minimum of plastic packaging, I might add! #Yay!

I sometimes compare Indian food to Southern cookin’ because the “comfort” factor on both is through the frickin’ roof, and the two culinary styles do share some commonalities. The warm, slow-cooked, creamy goodness of malai koftah is a great example of that, as is the very sweet, rich, hearty, tasty and satisfying kheer rice pudding.

I enjoyed this meal tremendously, and recommend that you try Kathmandu if you haven’t been there yet, or go back if you haven’t been in a while. It’s one of Asheville’s most interesting li’l gems in my opinion! It’s great for meat-eating omnivores of course, as well as for vegetarians and wannabe-vegetarians like me.

I’ll take another stab at #VegWeek another time. Like, after the holidays. Maybe.

As always, you can find the best deals and specials at Kathmandu Kitchen on their Dig Local page.

Below you will find one locally curated Scoop chosen for each day this week — but make sure to check out all the Scoops this week on our Dig Local Scoop Calendar.

PT Pub Night

atHillman BeerAll physical therapists, PTAs and PT/PTA students are welcome this Tuesday for the first-ever PT Pub Night in the Asheville area. Network with your colleagues over delicious brews!Click here for more details.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? We're thankful for all the amazing local businesses that make the Asheville community so unique and special. Several of these local restaurants are also offering Thanksgiving dinners, potlucks, buffets and more today.

Record Store Day Black Friday and Small Biz Saturday

at Harvest RecordsFind special Record Store Day Black Friday releases, enter giveaways, drink free beer and get the best deals during the basement sale this Friday at Harvest Records. And on Small Business Saturday, the basement sale continues! Click here for more details.